Integrated risk-based Bi-objective surveillance scheduling for undersea infrastructure safety

This study presents a novel approach to schedule surveillance operations for critical undersea infrastructure. The problem addresses the vulnerability of undersea infrastructure to deliberate attacks, natural disasters, accidents and anchor droppage incorporating their associated risks. The aim is to allocate and order the surveillance operations across different levels, including undersea, surface, and aerial activities. There is a trade-off between minimising surveillance operations cost and maximising incident detection. Therefore, the problem is formulated as a novel bi-objective flexible job-shop scheduling model (BO-FJSS) considering operational constraints for multiple types of surveillance assets, such as remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs), autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and surface vessels. The study also emphasises on the significance of various risk factors, achieved by utilising the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to assess the risks at different depths and incorporating them as weights in the BO-FJSS model. The computational experiments on a specific gas pipeline between the UK and Norway, offer valuable insights into the diverse levels of risks associated with various events within different depth ranges. This information can assist in prioritising risk management strategies and efficiently allocating resources.